Dipping into the EarthFirst.com Archives for Green Sex Toys, Wind Powered Win, Miniguns, and Stupid Americans

Happy Sunday!

EarthFirst.com has been officially live since mid-May when we finally shook the ugly off and put up our current design, but I was writing daily for months before that. We didn’t have many readers at the time and used the space to work on our editorial voice.

I’ll be pulling out the old files from time to time to share a few good posts. This week we’ll be revisiting the archives for green sex toys, badass chain gun tree saws, idiot manchild CEOs, stupid Americans, and a whole lotta f-bombs.

Take a stroll down EF.com memory lane with us…

• 2,250 Minigun bullets to cut down a tree

• The hippies had it right- stop washing your hair!

• What’s better than a good wine buzz? A green wine buzz!

• Fsck Planet Earth. Fsck fsck fsck fsck fsck. But, you know, spelled with a u.

• Garbage, especially plastic, is choking the planet.

• This shouldn’t be a surprise to anyone paying attention, but 18% of Americans are very, very stupid.

• How’s that GM stock doing Bob Lutz? Couldn’t have happened to a better guy.

• Break out the glass dildo and get your sexy green groove on chemical free! Yes, organic sex toys.

• OMFGFSMBBQ, do I want one of these all terrain transformer like badass super truck. Yeah, so it’d rip shit up, but damn, take a look at this thing!

How to Fix NY’s ‘Bigger Better Bottle Bill’

Groovy Green has reposted a great article by Daniel T. Weaver of the Daily Gazette about how to make New York state’s bottle deposit program work for everyone – states, environmentalists and soft drink companies. New York currently has a 5 cent deposit on all soft drinks, and unclaimed deposits are kept by the soft drink companies. Many New Yorkers support a ‘bigger, better bottle bill’ that would include bottled water, sports drinks, tea and other beverages, but the bill has failed consistently over the last several years.

Dan’s suggestion? Raise the deposit fee to 25 cents. Oh yeah, and to the environmentalists of the state: stop trying to grab the unclaimed profits for yourselves.

From Groovy Green:

The proposed legislation goes too far in some areas and not far enough in others. Let me explain. First, the bill does not include the large plastic beverage cups that people get from fast food restaurants and convenient markets. I find these along my road all of the time. Secondly, the bill does not increase the amount of the deposit on returnable bottles and cans. The amount has been a nickel for twenty-five years. Most people won’t bend over to pick a nickel off the ground, and the nickel’s lack of value accounts for the many cans and bottles that are thrown out of car windows, left on beaches, etc.

The legislation requires that all unredeemed deposits be turned over to the State Environmental Protection Fund. Currently the beverage industry keeps the money, which totals more than 100 million dollars each year.

Dan points out that at 25 cents per bottle, there would be very few unclaimed bottles. That means far less bottles littering the roads, beaches and other areas of New York. The state currently only has a 70.2% return rate on bottles. So the income from unclaimed bottles would be far less for beverage companies, but as Dan suggests, compromising with them might help the legislation get through.

We like this idea for a lot of reasons, and think it should go nationwide. Charge people extra for beverages that come in a bottle or a can, and they’ll think twice about throwing it in the trash. More will be recycled and homeless people will be able to earn more. The caveat? People might buy far fewer canned and bottled beverages in the first place, which is probably exactly what soft drink companies are afraid of. Thus, the lobbying that prevents the bill from being passed. But still, good call Dan – and thanks Groovy Green for picking this up!

Link [Groovy Green] + [The Daily Gazette]
Photo credit: Flickr user judepics

Plastic Going Up in Price

We’ve gotten accustomed to plastic being cheap. So accustomed, that we’re now hopelessly addicted to it – we’d be hard-pressed to live without it at this point. But, all things come to an end, and the age of cheap plastic may be going out with the age of cheap oil. Of course, that’s because plastic is made from petroleum, which has gotten very expensive as of late.

From Green Car Congress:

Mitsubishi Chemical Corp., Mitsui Chemicals Inc. and Sumitomo Chemical Co. have raised the price of polyethylene, the most common synthetic resin, by 17% to levels not seen for the past 25 years. The price hike is blamed on soaring prices of naptha, a key raw material refined from crude oil.

Domestic synthetic resin prices are now at their highest level since 1983, when the market was dealing from the fallout of the second oil shock.

Meanwhile, the price of polypropylene, which is used in candy packaging and clothing storage products, was lifted around 37-40 yen per kilogram, or 18%. And polystyrene prices were raised 7-9%, or 15-20 yen per kilogram. The plastic is used in food containers.

Okay, so – plastic is polluting, has negative effects on the health of humans and animals, is made from oil – and now it’s expensive? Sounds like as good a time as any to start trying to wean ourselves off of it as much as possible. We may never stop using plastic entirely, but we can cut back our personal consumption of products packaged in plastic as much as possible.

Link [Green Car Congress]
Photo credit: Flickr user Meg and Rahul

The Impossible Task of Cutting Plastic Out of Your Life

Image via Algalita Marine Research Foundation

Plastic is a cancer on the environment and yet we just can’t get enough of it. Just try to get through one day without plastic – it’s impossible. Your shampoo is in a plastic bottle. Your car has plastic all over the interior. Open your fridge door – plastic. Turn on a light – plastic. Brush your teeth, have safe sex, wear a Hawaiian shirt – plastic, plastic and more plastic.

Though I was always aware of plastic being problematic for the environment, I never considered trying to dramatically reduce my use of it until I had a wake-up call a few months back. After discovering that I had several health problems related to high levels of estrogen, a female hormone, I started doing some research and learned about the connection between hormones like estrogen and compounds found in plastic, such as Bisphenol A (BPA). Tests have shown BPA to be an endocrine disrupter, and it’s linked to health issues like breast cancer, prostate cancer, infertility, early onset of puberty and insulin resistance. BPA is found in plastic water bottles, reusable food containers, baby bottles and canned food liners, among many other items.

That led me to examine how much plastic I’ve really been using on a daily basis. Once you start thinking about how much plastic is in your life, it can be overwhelming. It’s everywhere, and health effects are far from the only dangers of the petroleum-based material. From the raw materials used to create it to where it ends up when we no longer want it, plastic has an incredibly large, negative footprint on the earth. Cradle to Cradle it’s not.

Plastic begins its life as petroleum, which is drilled and transported to refineries. Then the crude oil and natural gas is refined into ethane, propane and thousands of other petrochemical products. Ethane and propane are “cracked” into ethylene and propylene using high-temperature furnaces, and then a catalyst is combined with them in a reactor, resulting in what’s called ‘fluff’ – powdered polymers. The fluff is combined with additives in a blender, fed into an extruder where it’s melted, allowed to cool and then fed to a pelletizer that cuts it into small pellets. The pellets are shipped to manufacturers who then process it into various products (Source: ReachOutMichigan.org).

As you can see, the production of plastic is yet another way in which we’re dependent on foreign oil, and oil drilling is hard on the environment. Plastic also clogs our landfills. It can take 200 to 400 years to degrade, and only 3% of plastic waste is currently recycled, partially due to the fact that facilities to recycle most types of plastic simply don’t exist in most cities (Source: Learner.org). Consumers have little choice but to throw their plastic waste in the trash.

Ocean Gyres: The Pacific Gyre is top center. Image via Wikimedia Commons

As if that weren’t bad enough, then there’s the plastic that ends up in our oceans. The swirling vortex of plastic trash in the Pacific Ocean, known as the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, is a prime example of how our love affair with plastic is damaging the environment. The trash gyre takes up an astonishingly large area of the Pacific Ocean – twice the surface area of the continental United States. It’s essentially the world’s largest garbage dump, and it’s held in place by swirling underwater currents. It stretches from about 500 nautical miles off the coast of California, across the northern Pacific nearly as far as Japan. Researchers have called it ‘plastic soup’, and includes everything from footballs and kayaks to children’s toys and shopping bags.

Plastic is believed to account for 90% of the trash in oceans, and it’s been known to kill marine life. The UN Environment Program estimates that plastic debris causes the death of more than 1 million seabirds each year, along with 100,000 marine mammals. Entanglement or ingestion of plastics have been known to cause death or suffering to at least 267 different species including turtles, seabirds, seals, sea lions, whales and fish.

Motivated by all of this knowledge, I set out to reduce the amount of plastic that I used in my daily life as much as possible. It didn’t take long to discover that cutting plastic out of your life in this day and age is virtually impossible. You’d have to totally change practically every facet of your life in order to avoid it. I began my quest to reduce my plastic use mainly concerned with plastics that come into contact with my food and drinks, as well as the products I apply directly to my skin, like lotion. It wasn’t too hard to replace my food containers and cups with all glass and ceramic, but then I started thinking about all of the plastic that surrounds me every day and how hard it would be to totally avoid it.

One thing I realized early on is that attempting to avoid plastic can either be really cheap or really expensive. If you go the cheap route, you’re bound to be living a pretty primitive existence, because finding alternatives to plastic for everyday items isn’t always possible. If you try to replace everything you own that’s made with plastic, you’re going to get frustrated fast because often, alternatives just aren’t out there.

You can get wooden or cloth kids toys instead of plastic, replace your toothbrush with a wooden one, buy staples in bulk (and use glass containers to house the items), only wear natural fabrics and replace cheap fixtures around your house with vintage glass or ceramic. But, you’ll have to forgo sunglasses, electronics and those little plastic pumps on your liquid hand soap. Forget medical or dental work - plastic abounds. Want to paint your house? The paint cans are plastic. Switching to tap water instead of bottled? You’ll have to drink it straight from the faucet, because filters are encased in plastic. Better switch to an entirely whole foods diet, because one stroll through the grocery store will show you that most items are encased in plastic bottles, bags, wrap or mesh.

Christine Jeavans with some of her plastic purchases – Image via BBC News

One woman in the UK is attempting to go without plastic for the entire month of August, and will be documenting her journey on the BBC News website. Christine Jeavans has resolved not to purchase anything that contains plastic or is packaged in plastic, and in preparation for this, she has kept all of the plastic she used in the previous month – totaling 603 items. Included in that total were 67 food packaging bags and films, 13 yogurt cups, 10 milk bottles and 120 disposable diapers. Once faced with all of this plastic, Chris was more resolved than ever to change her lifestyle. She’ll be updating her blog with her progress throughout the month.

I’m still sorting through my own attempts to reduce the amount of plastic I use, with mixed results – but hoping to do better going forward. While I can’t yet replace all of the plastic items in my home with longer-lasting, safer alternatives, I will definitely be far more conscious of what I purchase in the future. I’m already avoiding food with unnecessary packaging and thinking about where each item I purchase will end up when I’m done with it.

Luckily, the world at large is beginning to wake up from our decades-long plastic nightmare. Many new companies are offering plant-based packaging that breaks down when composted. Biodegradable packaging can be seen on everything from take-out containers to personal care products, and biodegradable options are available for items like trash bags and packaging tape.

There’s no doubt that plastic has revolutionized the way we live, and greatly sped up the advancement of modern civilization. But, times are once again a-changin’ – and we’ve got to find a better way. We’re a long way away from completely cutting plastic out of our lives – and it may never happen. But with the green revolution fueling sustainable technology like never before, we’re sure to see more ways that we can cut back.

Perhaps more companies will soon discover the merits of the Cradle to Cradle design philosophy, and we’ll soon have a wealth of materials that are even better than plastic that don’t harm the earth. And perhaps we can all be a little more conscious about the life cycle of every item we purchase – especially plastic – for our health and for the earth.

Many Face Scrubs Contain Tiny Water-Polluting Beads of Plastic

Just when you think you’ve heard it all in regards to dangerous, unhealthy, bad-for-the-environment ingredients in cosmetics and personal care products, here comes more bad news. If you use an exfoliating face scrub to keep your skin smooth and healthy-looking, you may want to check the ingredients. Many companies are using tiny particles of plastic to get that smooth effect, which in turn end up in our watershed and may be ingested by marine life.

From Yahoo! Green:

One Australian researcher found that plastic fragments smaller than 1 millimeter are increasingly common in our oceans. In one British estuary, 85 percent of the plastic garbage was this “microplastic” debris. Sewage treatment systems can’t filter it out, so this tiny plastic junk pollutes the watershed and can be ingested by marine life.

Those little beads may feel nice on your skin, but in the long run, they’re not doing the planet any good. Besides, you can find plenty of cleansers that use natural stuff to scrub the dirt off your face.

Some of the eco-friendly brands have been around for ages, they don’t cost any more than the plasticized versions, yet they won’t clog up poor little fishy bodies when we’re done with them.

The brands using plastic beads include Aveeno, Clean & Clear, Dove, Neutrogena, Noxzema, Olay and Phisoderm (see Yahoo! Green for the full list, and a list of safe alternatives). While you could continue purchasing pre-made scrubs that are more natural and don’t contain plastic (Christ on a bicycle, plastic? Really?), I’ve got a simple trick for you that I’ve been using for years. Keep a shaker of sugar, salt or baking soda in your bathroom. Add a little to your regular face wash when you need some exfoliating power. It seriously works better than any pre-packaged product I’ve ever tried, it’s ultra cheap, it saves packaging and you’ll know for sure exactly what’s in it.

Check out this Slate article, ‘Scrubbing Out Sea Life’, for more details on how harmful those little plastic beads can be.

Link [Yahoo! Green] + [Slate]

Activists Take Junk Journey Through ‘Plastic Soup’ in Pacific Ocean

When you picture the Pacific Ocean, you probably imagine cool breezes, deep blue waves cresting in cascades of white foam, dolphins surfacing playfully and birds flying overhead. Unfortunately, that cheery picture is becoming naught but a memory as the ocean is increasingly polluted by astonishing amounts of trash.

On a voyage with the Algalita Marine Research Foundation, sailors Markus Eriksen and Joel Paschal were sickened by what they saw in the Pacific: continent-sized patches of plastic litter. They discovered pollution to a shocking extent in the waters leading up to the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, a ‘swirling mass of plastic debris some estimate to be as large as the United States’. Tests done on the water show that plastic outnumbers plankton 48 to 1. On the surface, the water looks clean, but when you pull up a sample from beneath you get what Algalita’s education advisor Anna Cummins describes as ‘plastic soup’.

The Green Tech Blog has more:

Algalita researchers said the floating, soupy landfill isn’t well understood because satellites can’t spot the translucent particles. And although efforts by scientists to explore plastic in five gyres around the world have been lacking, interest is expanding as the public learns more.

“No one really knows what’s out in the other gyres,” Cummins said. “In the north Pacific alone there’s Capt. Moore with his research boat. We are a small organization with five or six paid staff members.”

Eighty percent of the plastic comes not from ships but from land, where tossed consumer goods eventually travel from beaches and rivers into the ocean, according to Algalita.

Plastic concentrates poisons such as PCBs at levels a million times higher than found in the water, according to Japanese researchers.

The amount of plastic produced in the United States has nearly doubled in the past two decades, according to the American Chemistry Council.

“Recycling isn’t the solution,” Cummins said. “We think there absolutely needs to be a reduction in the overall use and consumption of plastic.”

The activists are going on a journey sailing more than 1,000 miles from California to Hawaii to further explore the problem, traveling on a motorless craft made from recycled materials including 15,000 bottles, fishing nets and the cockpit of a Cessna. They’ll have GPS units, VHF radios, a Coast Guard beacon and three months’ worth of food and water. You can follow their journey on the blog JUNK.

Link [Green Tech Blog] + [JUNK]
Photo credit: Peter Bennett/Ambient Images Inc.

High School Student Finds a Way to Biodegrade Plastic in 3 Months

Holy awesome! Some high school kid in Canada came up with a way to bio-digest plastic shopping bags. For a freaking science fair! Amazing. 500 billion plastic bags are produced worldwide every year, and they take up to 1,000 years to decompose. We’re all aware of the fact that plastic bags pose a lot of problems – they clog up landfills, choke marine life and are seen floating in water far too often. Finding a way to get rid of them is huge.

From The Record:

Daniel Burd’s project won the top prize at the Canada-Wide Science Fair in Ottawa. He came back with a long list of awards, including a $10,000 prize, a $20,000 scholarship, and recognition that he has found a practical way to help the environment.

Daniel, a 16-year-old Grade 11 student at Waterloo Collegiate Institute, got the idea for his project from everyday life.

“Almost every week I have to do chores and when I open the closet door, I have this avalanche of plastic bags falling on top of me,” he said. “One day, I got tired of it and I wanted to know what other people are doing with these plastic bags.”

The answer: not much. So he decided to do something himself.

He knew plastic does eventually degrade, and figured microorganisms must be behind it. His goal was to isolate the microorganisms that can break down plastic — not an easy task because they don’t exist in high numbers in nature.

Daniel ground the plastic bags into a powder and mixed it with ordinary household chemicals, dirt, yeast and tap water to encourage microbe growth. For three months he allowed the concentration of microbes to increase, and put the culture into three flasks with strips of plastic bags. Six weeks later, he found that the bags weighed an average of 17 percent less. Not satisfied with that result, he continued working on the solution until he isolated his most effective strain of plastic-eating bacteria and got a result of 43 percent degradation in 6 weeks.

What a cool example of how innovation can come from the most unexpected places.

Link [The Record]
Photo credit: Flickr user scottwyden

The 5 People Responsible for Mankind’s Most Toxic Inventions

Just like the men whose inventions caused their own deaths, those who conceived the biggest man-made threats to the natural world had no idea what they were doing when they began. Men like Thomas Edison and Karl Benz likely saw fame, money and possibly even the good of mankind as the benefits of their innovative creations. Unfortunately for all of us, their inventions have instead damaged the environment possibly beyond repair and have the potential to continue making things much, much worse. As in, end of the world worse. Here are five guys who thought they were making something way cool, but whose ideas have turned out to be some of mankind’s most destructive inventions of all time.

Plastic- Invented by Leo Baekland

Leo Baekeland invented Bakelite, the first truly synthetic plastic in 1905. A combination of formaldehyde and phenol, Bakelite set the stage for all of the plastics that were to come. In the first few decades of its existence, plastic was hailed almost as a miracle substance – ads touting the wonders of ‘fantastic plastic’ made it appear to be the path to a futuristic world. Certainly, the world has never been the same since. While it undoubtedly made life more convenient, it has also become one of the most polluting substances known to mankind. Plastics contain chemicals like dioxin and pthalates, which are known to be harmful to humans and the environment. One frightening fact about plastic is that nearly every single piece ever produced still exists today. Plastic bags and bottles litter the earth in staggering amounts that multiply daily. To get an idea of how bad the situation really is, check out “World of Waste: America’s Mass Consumption in Images” at Eco-Chick.

Diesel Fuel- Invented by Rudolf Diesel

German engineer Rudolf Diesel began working on what would be known as the diesel engine in 1892. Diesel first designed his engine to be run on hempseed oil and other vegetable oils, which would have been a far better choice for the environment but is not as cheap as the petroleum distillate now commonly known as diesel fuel, or petrodiesel. Diesel committed suicide in 1913 due to financial issues. Although he didn’t live to see his engine implemented in motor vehicles, the fuel that we know as diesel fuel today was named after his invention.

Unfortunately, diesel fuel has proven to be one of the top sources of pollution - specifically, the dirtiest and cheapest type of diesel fuel available, bunker oil. Bunker oil is used to power large ships, which are quickly causing U.S. ports to be the top sources of pollution in the world. Petrodiesel is also responsible for the lovely thick clouds of black smoke you see streaming from the tailpipes of large vehicles. Poor Rudolf Diesel would probably not be too proud of the destruction that his invention spawned in the world and it’s rather ironic that he killed himself by jumping into the ocean from a large ship (albeit a steam powered one).

The Motor Vehicle- Invented by Karl Benz

Karl Benz is credited with the invention of the modern automobile after building and selling the first four-wheeled vehicle in 1893. He also designed and patented the internal combustion flat engine, and the Benz Patent Motorwagon became the first commercially available automobile in 1888. As they say, the rest is history, and motor vehicles now cover the earth and spew forth pollution like a biblical plague. The problem with automobiles isn’t limited air pollution; it’s also the strain on energy resources and contaminants that are left behind such as antifreeze, grease, oil and metals. The environmental destruction left in the wake of the motor vehicle affects our water sources and the soil in which we grow our food. The motor vehicle is the single easiest way to turn one human being into a polluting machine.

The Power Plant- Invented by Thomas Edison

One of history’s greatest and most celebrated minds, Thomas Edison, invented the first power plant in 1882. His invention of the incandescent light bulb three years previously had paved the way for electric power, causing him to form the Edison Electric Illuminating Company to build power stations in New York City. Pearl Street Station began generating electricity on September 4th of 1882, and ran on a single steam powered generator.

As the years passed, coal became a more common source of power, and by the 1920’s pulverized coal was the norm. The use of coal as fuel for electric plants has a wide range of environmental implications, not the least of which starts with coal mining, which causes severe erosion and results in the leaching of toxic chemicals into nearby waterways. Of course, coal mining has been going on for centuries, but has greatly accelerated in the past century due to its use in coal-fired power plants. Two-thirds of sulfur dioxide, one-third of carbon dioxide and one-quarter of total nitrogen oxide emissions in the U.S. are produced by the burning of coal. Asthma, respiratory diseases, smog and acid rain are just a few of the coal industry’s lovely side effects.

The Atomic Bomb- Developed by Leó Szilárd

Though many credit Albert Einstein with this invention, the person responsible is in fact Leó Szilárd, a Hungarian-American scientist who developed the idea of the nuclear chain reaction and created the Manhattan Project. Szilárd did enlist the help of Einstein in writing a letter to President Franklin D. Roosevelt encouraging the creation of a nuclear defense program, but that was the extent of Einstein’s involvement. This was during World War II, when the Nazis were known to be working on similar technology. As the war went on, Szilárd came to resent the way the military seized control of his invention and became deeply bitter about the use of the atomic bomb against civilians after Truman bombed Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

Though we haven’t yet experienced its full effects, the atomic bomb is perhaps the single biggest man-made threat to the environment. A small nuclear war would cause a global environmental catastrophe. A nuclear blast would create black smoke, firestorms and radioactive particles that would completely devastate the entire globe, and the immediate effects would create climate anomalies that would last at least 10 years. Nuclear weapons are far more dangerous to the earth than global warming, and as we speak, India and Pakistan are quietly ramping back up their nuclear programs. A nuclear war between India and Pakistan would kill millions and unleash catastrophic health and environmental problems.

Link [Neatorama} + [Eco-Chick] + [Wikipedia] + [LiveScience] + [The Indian]

Photo credit: Time Magazine, Wikimedia Commons, Wikimedia Commons, Wikimedia Commons, Wikimedia Commons

It’s Mind Blowing Time: VBS.TV Visits the Garbage Filled Pacific Ocean Gyre

Excuse my language, but holy fracking shite! I’ve been aware of the global tragedy that is the Pacific Ocean Gyre for a while now, but I REALLY didn’t ‘get it’ until I watched this 12 part video from VBS.tv- TOXIC: Garbage Island. In short- humans have created a toxic wasteland of plasticized stew the size of the continental United States.

Stop whatever you are doing right now and go watch them.

Link [VBS.TV- TOXIC- Garbage Island Part 1]

Drastic Plastic: From Floating Plastic Crap to Toxic Food Chain Bomb

We all know that plastic waste in our oceans is a big threat for entanglement and digestion to sea-life and ocean-dependent creatures. It goes without saying, but, hell, let’s do it anyhow, that this is just another pathetic example of how human consumption and selfish disregard is dramatically affecting the world around us. And this in itself really sucks. Big time.

But just in case the visible plastic waste that is circulating the waterways of the world wasn’t enough to swallow, turns out the no-see-um plastic is chipping in to ruin the planet as well. You see, as non-biodegradable plastics are s-l-o-w-l-y broken down by the sun, they break up into smaller pieces, attracting and collecting toxins and poisonous residues along the way. (This is where you shake your head in shame, realizing that as a lean, mean, full-service polluting machine, we not only throw throw the plastic into the oceans, but the poisons that stick to the plastic as well. ‘Attaboy!)

The risk that these small, toxic-covered plastic bits will then be consumed by ocean-dwelling organisms is quite significant. And once inside the little critters, digestive enzymes take over and increase the risk that the toxicity will then be absorbed.

“Now there’s the potential for those chemicals to be released to those marine organisms if they then eat the plastic.” - Dr. Richard Thompson of the University of Plymouth

It doesn’t take much to run through your own mental food chain map before you realize that the threat is real. Talk about a serious bummer.

Source [BBC News]

Flickr photo credit [jschneid]

Garbage is the Enemy of the Earth

Great Flying Spaghetti Monster! If this doesn’t shock the hell out of you, I don’t know what will.

This is a photo of a dead albatross found in the Hawaiian Islands next to the hundreds of pieces of plastic and metal pieces of junk that was found in its stomach.

We’ve written about the Pacific Gyre before, a psty of the Pacifiic Ocean twice as big as the Continential U.S. that is is filled with the detrius of humanity- mostly plastic bags and swag. Plastic doesn’t decompose, it just breaks down into smaller pieces. There is now significantly more microscopic pieces of plastic than plankton in those parts of the ocean. It’s really bad and getting worse every year.

We need to eliminate the whole concept of trash and garbage. The answer is Cradle to Cradle, everywhere.

Link [Tao of Change]

Greenify Your Sexy Time Toy Collection by Getting Off Chemicals

Victoria E has a good post up highlighting the dangers of cheap plastic sex toys. For the love of the Flying Spaghetti Monster people, spend some money on nice eco-friendly vibrators and whatnots. Good Vibrations, Babeland, and Good Clean Love are excellent places to start.

Here’s a snip, head over and read Victoria’s whole post.

Whether adventurous or mildly amorous, millions of couples use “novelty” items (a.k.a. sex toys). Often purchased on a whim, these bedside buddies can exponentially enhance your sensual encounters but they may also bring their own fair share of damage.

Soft and dangerous
If any of your toys are made from what looks to be a jelly-like substance or have the same smell as your newly purchased shower curtain, there is a very high possibility that they have been made with phthalates. These chemical compounds are used to soften the plastic, making it more flexible, which would seem to be perfect for such an intimate item.

Banned in Europe
Used since the 1920s in not only sex toys, but also perfumes, pesticides, rain coats, hair spray and medical instruments, phthalates have been linked to liver and kidney damage, genital abnormalities, hormone disruption and cancer. In 2005, the European Union banned six types of phthalates in children’s toys due to their dangers.

Link [Victoria E]

The Pacific Ocean Gyre: A Huge Swirling Mass of Sadness (and Plastic)

When you’re fighting to save the world somedays are good days, some are bad. Whenever I read about the Pacific Ocean Gyre it usually turns into a bad one.

In case you haven’t read about this man made environmental disaster before let me fill you in. There is an area that is TWICE THE SIZE of the Continental U.S. in the Pacific Ocean between California and Japan that is full of garbage. The ocean currents push trash, mostly plastic, into a relatively stable area of the Pacific Sea where it just sits.

Some of it floats on the surface while the rest settles on to the sea floor. Plastic doesn’t decompose, so even when it “breaks down” it remains plastic. Scientists have measured the water there and found microscopic pieces of plastic that outnumber plankton 6 to 1. It’s downright depressing.

Marine animals and birds eat the plastic and die terrible deaths as they starve and choke to death on plastic soda rings and shopping bags.

The lesson here- people suck, recycle your plastic, and stop being such all-consuming whores.

Link [Pacific Ocean Gyre on Wikipedia] & [Green Up and Go]